Pirates Daily: Contreras-Lodolo Set For Intriguing Pitchers Duel
Wednesday, Sept. 14, the Pittsburgh Pirates (54-88) wrap up their series in Cincinnati against the Reds (56-85) at Great American Ball Park. The first pitch between the Pirates and Reds is scheduled for 12:35 p.m.
Both Johan Oviedo and Luis Ortiz dazzled Tuesday night as the Pirates on both ends of the doubleheader on Tuesday.
The game will be aired on AT&T Sportsnet PIT and can be heard on 93.7 The Fan
Starters
Starting for the Pirates will be Roansy Contreras (5-4, 3.29 ERA).
Dating back to July 7 (six starts), Contreras has gone at least five innings. In four out of those six, Contreras went into the sixth inning or later. Contreras’ worst start in that span came on Aug 17., when he went six innings and gave up four earned runs on six hits and four walks.
Starting for the Reds is scheduled to be left-hander Nick Lodolo (4-5 3.78 ERA).
Lodolo has strung together three impressive starts in a row. During that three-game span, Lodolo has pitched in 21 innings and only gave up five earned runs on 12 hits and two walks. In his last start, Lodolo pitched eight innings and gave up two earned runs on five hits and no walks while striking out 11.
Betting Odds
The Reds open up as -162 favorites, with the Pirates listed as +136 underdogs on the moneyline. Cincinnati’s -1.5 run line can be had at +135 odds, whereas Pittsburgh’s +1.5 run line opens up at -156 odds. The O/U stands at 8 runs.
Who’s Hot/Who’s Not
Who’s Hot: It was nice to see Ke’Bryan Hayes show off some power in game one of the doubleheader. Hayes went two for four with a solo home run en route to a 6-1 Pirates victory.
Who’s Not: Oneil Cruz had a rough day at the plate in both games. Cruz went a combined 1-8 with four strikeouts in the process.
- Ortiz’s first pitch went 100 mph to Nick Senzel. Ortiz is just the second Pirate to throw a ball 100 mph in the Statcast era was Gerrit Cole on Sept. 12, 2017.
- Ortiz is only the second Pirates’ pitcher in team history to throw 5.2+ innings of shutout baseball while allowing just one hit in their MLB debut since Nick Kingham on April 29, 2018.
- The Pirates are now one win away from sweeping the Reds in four games. The last time the Pirates swept a team in four games was in 2019 when they did it against the Colorado Rockies.
